“You two are going to go meet six more sentient felines and their owners tomorrow,” he said.
Loki stared at him, his eyes bugging. TigTig yawned.
“Cool,” she said, and turned toward her plate.
“Don’t you want to know who they belong to?” Justin asked.
TigTig looked back. “I suppose you’re going to tell us,” she replied.
“He wants our undivided attention, Tig. Let’s humor him,” said Loki, who was practically twitching out of his fur to hear more.

“Joyce has two. Carrie has two. Suzanna and Paul, who you haven’t met yet, have one each,” Justin told them.

TigTig thought about that. “Yep. That makes six,” she agreed, and turned toward her plate again.

Loki swatted TigTig in frustration. “Geez! He just said Carrie and Joyce have ones like us! We’ve known them for years, you big dummy. How come we’re just finding out now?” he yelled at Justin. “How long have you been keeping this from us?”

TigTig rolled her eyes. “Who the hell cares? We’ll meet em tomorrow, no big deal. Is this over? Can I eat now?”

Loki glared at TigTig and Justin. “Well?”

Justin looked at the kitchen clock on the microwave. “I didn’t tell you because I just found out a couple of hours ago, that’s why. Anyway, you’re going to go to Carrie’s place tomorrow and meet everyone. They use phones and computers, too, so we can take your laptops if you want.”

Loki was still staring. “Uhh….what are they like?”

“Look, brainfart, we’ll find out tomorrow,” growled TigTig, and planted her face in her plate.

“Well, Belle is still a kitten, learning everything she can. She’s curious and full of energy and personality. Meows seems like a genius and a perfect gentleman –“ began Justin.

“Oh God, he’s gotta be boring,” muttered Loki.

“No, not the way Joyce was describing him after Carrie told me on the phone about the rest. I saw him in action tonight, and I think you’ll like him. I do.”

“You like salads too, so I’m not impressed,” the black cat frowned.

“ANYWAY, Bart is a good guy who seems pretty easygoing and typical for a guy. Zeus is a lot like him but he drives his owner insane sometimes by bitching up a storm, which, by the way, is something you do very well. I think you will get along real well

“You’re kidding! The ones you were telling us about who got into the potpourri oil, tried to go fishing in the aquarium, chased the dog into the linen closet and slammed the door shut, and hissed at her friends?”

“That’s them. Pook and Saav.”

TigTig looked up from the scampi at that point. “Wasn’t there some kind of duct-tape incident too?”

Justin sighed. “Yes.”

“Oh,” she said, and returned to her plate.

“Gaaaahhhhh,” said Loki, frowning. “I’d have never thought of those two as having a brain, much less sentience. You sure you haven’t been working too hard or something lately?”

“Nope. When you get to know them as sentient, you’ll like them. They’re quite different.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“They were just very mischievous when they were smaller. So were you, by the way,” Justin reminded him.

“I was not.”

“Yes, you were.”

“No, I was precocious,” Loki sniffed at him, and finally turned toward his own plate. He took a bite, but didn’t look happy.

Justin saw that. “What is it, Loke? What’s bugging you?”

“This morning when you left for work, we were the only two. You come home, there’s eight. What happened?” the cat asked.

“Joyce had given her cats the same treats you have in two little bowls on the counter in the kitchen. After dinner, we were watching a movie when Saav tried to jump up there, missed, fell, and smacked her head on the floor. Saav got hurt, forgot I was there, and yelled for Joyce, and it was over,” he explained.

That got TigTig’s attention. “Poor thing.”

“Joyce must be a real piece of work to put these treats out of a little cat’s reach. I think that’s cruel and –“

“No, no,” Justin interrupted. “She has that big dog, remember? If she put it any lower, the dog would get it and Saav wouldn’t have her treats. She just…misses sometimes. She can’t help it, she’s little and frail. Real sick and got hurt when she was a kitten.”

“Oh,” said Loki. “I didn’t know that about Saav.”

“I thought I told you both.”

“You did,” TigTig said. “Loki spends too much time spacing out in front of computer games.”

“No, I don’t,” snapped Loki.

TigTig rolled her bright yellow eyes and returned to her post-treats wash-up.

“Saav just doesn’t always have her feet under her,” said Justin.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Is she retarded too?” asked Loki.

“No, not at all. Well spoken, articulate, terrific writer. She’s taking online college courses and all. So is Pook – she likes web page designing and does really nice stuff with pictures and graphics,” replied Justin.

“So how did you find out about the rest of them?” asked Loki.

“Well, now, that’s something else. Short version, someone was stalking Suzanna and Meows caught the guy, but they needed someone – a human – to see what was going on and report it to the cops, so he and Bart got Carrie to call me at Joyce’s. They suggested I take Joyce’s dog for a short walk so I could see this guy stalking Suzanna and call the police. I did,” he explained. “I’m sure they’ll tell you the whole thing tomorrow.”

TigTig looked at him. “No wonder you smell like dog.”

Justin laughed. “I guess I do. Ruffie’s been all over me.”

“Well, so what’s happening tomorrow, really?” asked Loki.

“We’re all getting together with the sentient cats and their people tomorrow, so you two can get to know everyone. We’ll be next door to the seafood place, so you’ll get plenty of good stuff to eat.”

Loki finally seemed satisfied with those answers, so he turned and dove into his plate. TigTig looked at Justin, her expression inscrutable.

“My, my,” she said, and hopped off the table, heading upstairs to her book.
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Justin wondered, not for the first time, or for the last. He watched Loki eating, deep in thought.

“You always stare at people when they eat or are you just weird?” asked Loki after he finished and saw the human staring blankly at him.

“Then I like him already. Don’t worry. Don’t you think I want to get along with them? They’re like us. It would be stupid not to. Besides, I don’t have to like everything about a being to get along with or respect them. I don’t like everything about you, for one.”

“Gee, don’t be so kind,” said Justin.

“I’m not. Anyway, quit worrying. You’re making me nuts.”

Two hours later, Justin finally fell into a fitful sleep, full of dreams of talking cats and other unusual beings. Loki, who had snuggled by his side to purr him to sleep, carefully got up, making sure not to disturb the human. He slipped off the bed and out of the room, making his way to the other bedroom which was a cozy computer room/office/cat playroom. Justin had custom-built a floor-to-ceiling cat playhouse in one corner for them, built a shelf below the window where Loki and TigTig could read and use their laptops without being observed from below, and on the other walls were Justin’s desk and file cabinet. Bookshelves lined the walls, and in another corner was a small table with objects that could only be described as a prayer altar. Loki loved the room; it was cozy and efficient, and Isis even had a little bed next to the playhouse.

The big black cat jumped up on the shelf, making TigTig look up.

“He’s asleep,” he told her, pawing his laptop open. Justin had pulled the latches out of the tops of them to make them easier for paws to open.

“It’s about time,” she replied, and went back to her book.

Loki was quiet for a moment, thinking.

“Tiggy, what do you think about the other cats?” he finally asked. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about the upcoming meeting privately yet.

TigTig picked her bookmark up carefully with her teeth and placed it in her book, and closed it. She looked thoughtfully at him.

“I’m not really sure. I don’t know them yet,” she said.

“Are you nervous?”

TigTig considered that carefully. “No. Not nervous. Not afraid. I am…perhaps a little curious, you could say. I don’t know what to expect.”

“I don’t either. I guess that’s what bothers me. And those other cats, well, they sound brainy. I don’t think I’ll fit in,” he said.

The tabby regarded the black cat. “Why?”

Loki shrugged. “I’m not into learning anything.”

“So?”

“So, if all they do is sit there and play school all day, I am going to be bored to death.”

“Somehow, I doubt they’ll be doing that. Belle’s a kitten,” TigTig pointed out. “You know how kittens are, they bounce off the walls.”

“Well, you like to learn, with your history classes and your mythology and stuff. I’m not even into that,” Loki argued. “How am I going to get along with them?”

“The same way you get along with me,” she answered, looking at him intently.

“What do you mean by that? I just do my thing. You do yours. What’s that got to do with it?”

“Exactly,” smiled TigTig. “Tomorrow, if they start the school thing and you aren’t interested, just play a game or read one of your books. Remember, they are cats.”

“So? We are too.”

“Right again. We accept Justin the way he is, we’ll accept each other the way we are.”

Loki frowned at her. “Sometimes you’re confusing.”

TigTig smiled at him. “When tomorrow becomes yesterday, it will be a lot less confusing. Take it easy, Loke.”

He watched her return to her book, and he sighed. Isis peeked at him from one of the cubbyholes in the playhouse, and taunted him by swishing her tail and flattening her ears at him. He tore across the room, a black blur, and the two pounced and chased each

other until Loki felt better and Isis decided to have a late – or was that early? – snack downstairs.

Justin awoke around eight that morning, unable to sleep in for another minute. They were due at Carrie’s at eleven, so he decided on a leisurely shower and breakfast. He tossed on his robe, shoved his feet into his slippers, and ran outside to get the paper.

“Geez! It’s cold out there!” he wheezed, coming back in. Loki was in the foyer, having come down the steps.

“Some of us don’t have as much insulation on us as others do,” he said pointedly.

TigTig rolled her eyes. “You’re just jealous. What’s for breakfast?”

Justin made his way to the kitchen, the cats following. Isis jumped off the couch to join them as they came through the living room. He filled their bowls, and set out some more of the seafood leftovers. He glanced at the headline of the paper, and dropped the bag of cat food on his foot.

“Drug Plot Against Sunshine Inn Foiled,” he read aloud.

TigTig and Loki looked up from their bowls.

“What?” asked Loki.

“I caught a bad guy,” said Justin, getting the bag off his foot.

“Read it to us,” Loki suggested.

Justin read the short article, and snickered where he was referred to as a ‘dog walker.’

“’Dog walker,’” the black cat laughed. “That’s a hoot. When was the last time you walked a dog before last night?”

“I think I was eight,” replied Justin with a smile, then turned serious again as he read the rest of it. “Crap, guys, this perp was going to plant drugs at Sunshine Inn and set Suzanna up!”

“Stupid son of a –“ muttered Loki.

TigTig shook her head. “Glad you stopped that, Justin,” she said, and went back to her breakfast. Loki nodded.

“Yep, way to go there. Not bad for a day’s work,” he said with a wink at Justin.